What Happened to the Red Robin Diner Sign in Johnson City?

The structure that housed the historic Red Robin Diner in Johnson City may be remaining in place but its iconic sign is gone.

An Ohio man spent about 14 hours removing various elements of the red-and-blue neon sign that sat atop the Main Street eatery for decades.

Shane O'Farrell as he prepared to remove the Red Robin Diner sign on July 22, 2022. (Photo: Junk Hunk/Facebook)

Shane O'Farrell told WNBF News that he acquired the sign from the Broome County man who bought the old diner property in June.

O'Farrell said he spotted an advertisement for the diner sign in an online marketplace. He contacted the new owner of the Red Robin and made a deal to buy the sign.

O'Farrell said he collects and sells vintage items. He said: "I like taking down signs." And that's what he did on Friday at the closed diner. He said quite a few people stopped by to observe the process, which he said turned out to be more work than he had expected.

The old Red Robin Diner sign before it was transported from Johnson City to Ohio. (Photo: Junk Hunk/Facebook)

O'Farrell said it took about an hour-and-a-half to load the sign sections on the trailer for a 500-mile trip back to his home outside Columbus, Ohio. He said it was a challenging to prevent the glass in the neon sign from breaking on some of the rougher highway sections.

O'Farrell said he plans to fix up the sign and then sell it to a collector. He said "it's going to live on."

Taimoor Management Incorporated of Vestal purchased the Red Robin Diner property from the Anagnostakos family of Binghamton for $210,000 on June 16.

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Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com or (607) 545-2250. For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.

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